It's the End of the World As We Know It And I Feel Fine
by oldshowaddict2015
Summary: Meet Megan. She's a survivor. She's got great hunting skills. When the apocalypse hits, she goes and hides up in the mountains of North Georgia. She hunts, she farms, and takes care of herself. Until she's forced to leave her home. When she does she meets up with her uncle and her father, who she hasn't seen in years, and forces herself to get along with him. OCxRick, R&R no flames
1. A New World

Chapter One

It all started with a cough here, a sneeze there. Pretty soon it was all over the world. There was nothing the CDC could do to stop it. They tried, but getting a cure out in time was never going to happen.

They could try all they wanted, but in the end it just wouldn't happen.

Which is why, today, I'm hiding out in the old house that I grew up in... at least, for thirteen years of my life, up in North Georgia. After that, CPS found me, put me into foster care and there I spent the rest of my teenage years until I was eighteen, taking my little happy ass to college.

A few years later, I was a cop, a proud member of society (I could say different for my father, who I have seen arrested on a number of occasions; I actually had to arrest him once-that man is one strong motherfucker and he _really_ didn't want to be arrested).

Growing up, I was never close to my father. He was always gone or doing something. I was closer to my uncle, who was my only friend for the longest time. I never knew my mother, but I'm guessing I looked like her. I didn't really have anything from my father, besides my eyes and my temper.

But enough about me. Let's get on with this fucking story.

I picked up my rifle, making sure it was loaded before actually going to the window, that was only slightly ajar and sticking the barrel through the small opening. I looked through my scope and saw a small rabbit just minding its own business, hopping for a moment and then stopping, its little ears perked up as if it were looking for something.

Perfect.

Placing my finger on the trigger, I narrowed my eyes only slightly, focusing on my target. _Deep breath... in... out... have rhythm... keep calm..._

The gunshot rang out, echoing in the trees. Bugs Bunny flopped to the side and I smiled softly, standing up quickly.

I grabbed a small pistol just in case, walking out of the house. I shut the door (I had to learn the hard way not to keep the door open) and hurried over to the small rabbit. It wasn't very much, but for one it would do. It'd be great in the stew. Thank God I started to plant things in the garden.

Grabbing the bunny by the ears, I held it up. It was a cute little thing, and I hated killing things, but nowadays it was all you could do to survive. Sighing quietly, I looked it over before nodding to myself.

"What's up, Doc?" I muttered before looking around and hurrying back to the door. It'd take a while for the creeps to get up in the mountains, but I've seen three or four walking around these past couple days and the fact that they can make it up here _without_ ripping off any limbs has me on edge.

I made it inside and shut the door quickly, locking the deadbolt. I looked at the rabbit again and grimaced to myself.

Great. Now I gotta cut the fucking head off.

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 _My uncle had always been a little tough. He had to grow up in home that always put a little more than enough stress on him. Even when he was young, he had to learn how to fend for himself, and hunting was the way to do it._

 _"Ease your finger on the trigger." he whispered. "Don't shoot unless you're ready."_

 _I nodded slowly and watched as a deer entered my line of sight. My eyes widened and my uncle became stock still. My hands began to shake and, very quietly, he spoke._

 _"Deep breath... in... out... have rhythm... keep calm. Remember. Don't squeeze the trigger unless you're-"_

 _Bam._

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I picked at my stew, sighing quietly. It was lonely, living here alone. The only things I ever had for comany was the old radio that doesn't like to work anymore. Old photos and memories. They exactly aren't good company at times, but they were there. Other times I would talk to myself. I know that it sounds insane, but what else can you do? Especially if you don't have any books. All you can really do is sleep, hunt, make a woodland friend or two before they scurry off, or even just sing and listen to the echo.

The mountains are beautiful, don't get me wrong. And this view that I have is to die for. I always loved to watch the trees blow in the wind, maybe even just take a nap in the grass. I know that sounds like a Disney move, but that was something I really enjoyed doing as a young girl. To me, grass (at least grass that was fresh and green) was more comfortable than a bed. I had no trouble sleeping out underneath the stars. Although if I did now, I would become dinner for those creep things.

I stood and crossed the room, going over to the calander, marking off another day. It was November 5, 2010. A Friday. I laughed to myself.

"Remember, remember the fifth of November." I smiled softly, standing.

Of course, that smile was cut off when I saw a creep through the window. I grimaced to myself, watching as it shuffled around.

"Fuck me..." I muttered.


	2. Cassidy Smyth

Chapter Two

 _Walking into the Georgia police department, I made my way over to my desk, a coffee cup in my hand. And no. It wasn't Starbucks. Just a local coffee house that was_ better _than stupid Starbucks, thank you very much. And cheaper._

 _I logged onto my computer and typed in my password before a mugshot was waved in my face. I sighed quietly, taking it into my hands._

 _"Again?" I asked, looking at it._

 _"Your old man just can't lay off the booze, can he, Dixon?"_

 _I looked at the source. Pompus Alex Williams. Pretty boy who always had his hair slicked back and his face clean shaven. Reminded me of Percy Wetmore from The Green Mile. He just wasn't psychotic._

 _"Merle Dixon's always had a track record a mile long. Besides, I don't consider him my father. Sorry to burst your bubble, Williams." I tossed my father's drunken mugshot at him, making Alex catch it in his fist, crinkling the paper. I smirked a bit. I knew Chief Anderson wouldn't like that. Each and every file had to be absolutely perfect, no tears, no creases, nothing. And if you had a stain on it, you were going to get lectured like nobody's business._

 _"Regardless of what you say, he is."_

 _"Only by blood." I snapped, glancing at my computer again. Alex leaned on it, and I heard the machine groan in protest. He then made sure that his face was close to mine before speaking._

 _"And by name. Remember, no one wanted you. They always sent you back. You weren't worth it."_

 _I knew Alex only spoke like this if someone had pissed him off or bested him in something, and usually I could control myself._

 _But today, I just couldn't._

 _Slowly, out of his line of sight, I took the lid off my coffee cup and threw the drink in his face, making him close his eyes tightly and his mouth hang open. I had to admit. It was a sight to see. Some people looked back and noticed what had happened. A couple laughed to themselves. I smirked slightly as Alex wiped the coffee from his eyes and stood, slowly making it drip on his uniform. I surpressed a laugh as he quickly made his way to the bathroom, not saying a word._

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I made my way over to the window and looked out. It was a woman, maybe just three weeks dead. Her long hair hung limply, and what looked like a leaf was tangled inside of it. Her skin of her left cheek was falling off, and she shuffled around, not exactly walking like an actual person would. The clothes she was wearing were torn, and there was a large wound on her neck, undoubtly the bite that ended her life and made her into this hellish creature. She groaned as she walked around, her eyes clouded over and lifeless.

I aimed the rifle right at her head, making sure it was a clean shot before shooting her. The woman let out a growl before falling to the ground. I waited there for a minute or so, not daring to move. Once I was convinced there was no more groaning and the moment was stilled, I stood. Grabbing my pistol and a shovel, I walked out to where she was, beginning to dig a grave next to her.

She had a bullet in the middle of her forehead, a clean shot. Which meant that she was finally, officially, dead. I couldn't help but look at her from time to time as I dug. She had a torn black tank top, with one of the straps hanging limply to one side. Her jean shorts had multiple rips and tears. Her shoes were long gone, her feet torn to hell. In a way, I was glad that she couldn't feel the pain. I know what it's like just to cry because of a blister. Of course that blister was the size of a quarter, and was torn open. But I can't imagine having multiple cuts. Of course she was walking around dead, so the cuts probably didn't matter. She probably never felt them.

What seemed like hours later, I wiped my forehead of sweat. The air may have been cool, but it never stops anyone from sweating.

I reached into the dead woman's pocket and took out her wallet, opening it to see who she was. Her license was the first thing that caught my eye. I took it out and looked at it. The small picture showed her smiling, so I knew it had to be one of her first licenses (because no one hardly smiles, guys, lets face that fact right here and now). Her hair was light blonde, cascading in front of her forehead before being brought back by either a ponytail or a braid. She wanted to be an organ donor. She had brown eyes. Weighed only 110 pounds. Five foot two. Her name was Cassidy Smyth.

And she was eighteen years old.

I glanced down at Cassidy and shook my head.

"I'm sorry this had to happen to you, Cassidy. It's not a good way to die. In fact, it's a terrible way. I can't imagine the fear or the... the pain." I swallowed hard. "I hope you're in a better place now." I leaned on the shovel a bit. "I'm Megan. Megan Dixon. I was a cop with the Georgia PD. Now, I don't know what you wanted to do when you graduated high school, or college. But I'm sure what it was, was going to be something spectacular." I swallowed hard. "You were a very pretty girl. I bet you even had a boyfriend. Or girlfriend, I'm not judging. In fact I like gay people. One of my very best friends was lesbian." I sighed quietly. "I guess I gotta get you in the ground now." I cleared my throat, dragging her to the grave carefully, not wanting to accidentally tear off a limb.

I placed her in gently, and began to fill the hole with dirt.

Once I was finished, I made my way back inside, trying not to cry.


	3. A Roaring Blaze

Chapter Three

 _When I was a young girl, I had a dog. He was a mutt, not anything special. He wasn't purebred, and he sure wasn't a hunting dog or anything. But he was my dog, and I loved him very much. He was sweet, had a huge personality. He hated yelling, so when my father would start yelling at my uncle for some reason (he did this when he was drunk, mainly), my dog would hop onto my bed and keep me company. It made me feel better. Loved. When I would cry during the arguments, he'd lick the tears off my cheeks. I loved that dog to death. He was my best friend until the end, I used to say. My uncle liked him alright too. When he thought I wasn't looking, he'd hug him and kiss the top of that dog's head, making him wag his tail. I named him Clyde. And Clyde was my saving grace many times. He helped me through the toughest times, even when my uncle couldn't. To this day, I'm not sure if my father liked him or not, though I could have sworn I saw him pet him once or twice._

 _The last time I saw Clyde was the day I was taken away._

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That night, I woke to the smell of smoke. It startled me awake, and I was in full panic mode when I saw the fire across the room. It had started from the fireplace, possibly a spark that landed on the floor, and the rug was engulfed in flames. Without thinking twice, I scurried over to my rifle, and grabbed it, putting it over my shoulder. I then made my way over to the bed, yanking my blanket off of it, and began slamming it down on the fire. It ended up slipping from my hands, though, and landed on the rug. Looking around frantically, my mind running a hundred miles a minute, I didn't know to run or try to put it out with something else. I didn't have much water left-in fact, I was going to make a run to the stream tomorrow morning to get some more, but to try it now would be ridiuclous, the fire would have engulfed everything by then and I would be shit out of luck.

Grabbing my pistol from under my pillow, and any ammo I could find, I hurried out the front door only to be face to face with ten or more of those creeps. They were a good distance away, and outrunning them would be easy, but the sight startled me. I hadn't seen this many up in the mountains before, and I couldn't help but panic even more. One, a man, growled at me and began to lunge and I shot at him without thinking about it. The bullet hit him in the knee, making him buckle. That was when I made a run for it, the growls behind me making me run faster than I ever have before. Even when I used to run away from my foster families, who never adopted me (I usually was there a week), because they were only in it for the money. But even then, as I was saying, I never used to run this fast.

I stopped to rest at a nearby tree, leaning back on it and catching my breath. I checked my pistol, looking to see if I needed to reload it or not. I put in my waistband of my capri, running a hand through my hair. I didn't even bother to check my rifle. I knew it was loaded. I reloaded it right before I had gone to sleep.

I looked over to where the cabin used to be and saw a large smoke cloud in the distance. I bit my lip and shook my head. My father and uncle would _kill_ me if they knew I burnt that place down. Even with all the hell they suffered here, they still loved this place. They had to rebuild after it burnt down when my uncle was a child, and here it is again. Burnt to a crisp.

We Dixons just have amazing luck, don't we?

Sighing, I climbed the tree and got myself situated on a limb, shutting my eyes not too long after.

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I awoke to hear growling underneath me and something tugging on my shoe. I didn't understand it at first, and with my mind being half asleep I thought it was Abigail, a young girl who I had to share a room with at one point when I was in foster care.

"Abi, stop." I snapped. Whatever it was growled in response, and yanked on my foot again. I screamed and opened my eyes as I slid down on the limb a bit. There stood a creep, it's clouded over eyes staring up at me. I screamed again, kicking it in the face and making it more agitated. Its grip tightened on my shoe, yanking me down more. I kicked more, kicking it in the face a few more times (and I'm pretty sure I broke it's nose because I heard a sickly cracking noise the third or fourth tim I did it).

I went for another kick, reaching for my pistol as a gunshot rang through the air and the creep fell, dead.


	4. A Group of Survivors

Chapter Four

I checked my foot for any bites, and thankfully there were only small indents, but not breaks, in the top of my Converse. Thank you, Converse, for once again saving my ass. After quickly checking myself over, I heard a voice.

"Hey! You okay?"

I stopped, thinking. That voice. I knew that voice.

"Hey!" It got closer, and I started to hop out of the tree, losing my balance once I did so.

And landed right on top of the creep.

I grimaced at the smell, shutting my eyes tightly.

"Goddamn, that smells like shit." I muttered.

"Megan?"

My eyes snapped open and I looked up.

"Holy shit."

Standing front of me was Shane Walsh, a man I worked with before the world went to shit. He had dark brown hair which I think was what you wouold call "curly" or "wavy" (I liked to mess with him and call it "Naturally Fluffy" from time to time). His eyes were a dark brown, and he had light stubble starting to appear. He wore what seemed to be his uniform undershirt and pants, along with the boots. The shotgun he had with him was a Mossberg 590, one he would use on the job most of the time. Man, did he love that fucking gun.

Shane extended his hand to me and I took it gladly, not wanting to lay on that dead thing any longer.

"Jesus Christ, I didn't know you were still alive." I hugged him quickly. "Thank you."

"I didn't know you were alive either, so it's good I guess." he hugged me back lightly before I had pulled away and looked me over. "You okay?"

"Yeah. Yeah, I'm shook up but I'm alright." I nodded.

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We walked to the camp, Shane in front of me, leading the way. Once we got there, I saw group of people. A few were around the fire, some women were off doing laundry. One was African American, the other was Hispanic I believe. There was an older gentleman sitting near the RV, who wore an open button down shirt and white undershirt, with khakis and a fisherman's hat. I chuckled. I once was in a family where the grandfather used to wear a hat similar to that. He was a nice man. Gave me a lollipop every time I was over and always paid attention to me, asking me what I liked to do and things like that. He died not too long before I was sent back. That was a sad day. There was this Asian (I couldn't tell if he was Korean or Japanese or whatever, they all look the same to me) tossing his baseball cap up in the air and catching it, trying to pass the time sitting off to the side. He wore what seemed to be some kind of baseball shirt, like for a team or something, jeans and tennis shoes. His hair was jet black and a little puffed up, thanks to him taking the cap off. He was cute, but Asians weren't really my type. Two blonde women stopped and looked at me, the younger one curious and excited to see someone new while the older one looked curiously at me. They looked as if they were sisters, but they seemed to have a good enough age gap. I'd say ten or eleven years most likely. I saw a family of three by themselves. The father, the mother, and the daughter. The father wasn't exactly the nicest guy you would ever meet. He looked like those pricks I'd sometimes would have to bring in for a DUI or assault. Or both, depending. He looked controlling. Very controlling. Possibly abusive. You know how you can tell a man's character just by looking at him? Yeah. I could tell this guy was a prick. That woman needed to be careful, though I'm sure she's controlled by him 24/7. I could see the mother was unhappy, as she wouldn't look at the man or even talk to him. Hell, she probably wasn't even allowed to speak to him unless he spoke to her first. The daughter was playing with a doll every now and again before looking at her mother. Her mother would smile at her for a second before returning her attention to her hands. I noticed her hair was very short, with a salt and pepper color to it. She was a pretty woman. I just wondered if everything was okay with her situation. The daughter was a pretty little girl, thankfully favoring her mother somewhat. She had short blonde hair and looked as if she were ten or eleven. I wouldn't be surprised if she was abused too.

"Everyone!" Shane whistled to get their attention. "Listen up!"

One of the women, with long brown hair, looked up from what she was doing at the fire. The little boy next to her did the same. They looked a little familiar. The woman was pretty, her hair reaching probably to the middle of her back. She wore a blue top and jeans. The young boy next to her, possibly the same age as the little girl, had dark brown hair and looked up at me with a curious expression on his face. His eyebrows were furrowed and he seemed to be trying to figure out who I was, just like how I was with him and the woman. And then bam. It hit me like a semi truck.

I looked around for the man I knew was missing from that family-we were good friends before the world went to hell, and I had been over to his house the past couple of years for a Christmas party. He was sympathetic towards my problems, though he had never met anyone in my family. Including my father. I refused to speak to him when he was in the cell. Even if I brought him in, I only used the cop protocol and would not make small talk with him. I refused to.

Shane opened his mouth to speak but before he could, arguing between two men was heard the distance. This arguing wasn't like any you've heard before. It was loud. It was about how they'd do something or another, I couldn't really tell. My eyes widened in realization.

"Shane." I looked at him. "I believe you neglected to tell me that my father and uncle were part of your group." I spoke quietly, my arms crossed..

Right after I said that, Merle and Daryl Dixon made their way into the clearing.


	5. Glenn

Chapter Five

Before Shane even had the time to respond, my father and uncle made their way into camp. My uncle had a few rabbits and I think a couple squirrels that he was carrying, and my father had the gun. It seemed to me that might have been the reason why my uncle was so pissed off, but then again... The Dixons always have had some sort of temper. Including me. Which almost always had the fight go to a level to where it usually wouldn't go if it was two regular people.

The yelling started to get more and more heated, and I saw my uncle push my father, who yanked the gun off of his back. That was when Shane hurried over to them, seperating them.

"I'll do it! I'll do it!"

"Come on, I dare you! I fuckin' dare you!"

Before my father even got a chance to aim, Shane ripped the gun from his hands and tossed it to the ground, making it go off. I looked in the direction where it shot, and saw the Asian up in the chair, his hat clutched in his hands. He was practically white knuckling the damn thing, he was so scared. I bit my lip, looking over at the fight. Shane pulled my father's arms behind his back, holding him still.

"Merle, I'm telling you..." his voice strained. "You need to calm down and be rational."

"Let go of me!"

"No! You almost shot Glenn! You need to calm down!"

For a moment I watched as the two struggled with each other before my father finally calmed down, getting out of Shane's grip. He shot him a dirty look before looking at my uncle, who glared at him.

I saw the woman with the short hair hold her daughter close before looking at my uncle for a moment.

"Daryl..." she spoke softly. "I can cook those up for you, if you'd like?" she looked at her husband, almost if asking for his permission. He nodded stiffly once and the woman stood, walking over to Daryl. He handed the rodents to her silently, and the woman walked off. Honestly, I think she wanted to be away from the fighting. Behind her, her daughter followed, clutching her doll.

With all this commotion, neither had noticed me. Both my uncle and my father were so fixed on fighting each other that I didn't even exsist.

That is, until, my uncle saw me.

"Megan?" he asked. I waved shyly. I don't know why I was so shy. He practically raised me thirteen years of my life. He was like my father, if anything. But I hadn't seen him in years. That could be why. I rubbed my arm as my father looked at me. I didn't make eye contact.

"When did you get here?" he asked.

"Just now." I answered quietly. I couldn't tell if there was joy in his voice or not. I was never sure of his emotions.

Deep down inside of me, though, I suppose I did hope there was joy. It would be fucked up if there wasn't.

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That night, I sat alone by the lake. The two blonde women-sisters Andrea and Amy-were doing my laundry. Lori, Rick's wife who's name had escaped me for a while, let me borrow one of her shirts and Carol, the woman who had really short hair, snuck me a pair of her shorts. I'm sure her husband wouldn't have appreciated it. He's such an ass. At least, he looked like one.

"Hey."

I looked up and saw Glenn, the Asian, handing me a bottle of water. I took it.

"Thank you." I smiled softly. He sat next to me, the baseball cap back on his head.

"I'm sorry you had to see that."

"Trust me, I was around it all the time growing up." I sipped my water. "I'm used to it."

"So... Merle's your dad?" He asked. He was a little bit awkward about the whole thing. Shit, I would be too.

"Yeah. Merle Dixon's my dad." I nodded. "Hard to believe, isn't it?"

"Well, attitude wise, yeah. You're a lot calmer and reasonable."

I laughed quietly. "Well I wasn't around him my _entire_ life. And when I was, after I got my job, the only time I ever spoke was to read him his rights."

Glenn chuckled a bit. "That's a little harsh, isn't it?"

"Eh, if you had him as a father, you'd probably do the same."

"If I had him as a father, I'd rip my hair out."

I laughed. "Trust me, I tried not to." I smiled a bit. "I kept that hidden from the majority of people. Even Shane and Rick didn't know, and I worked with them a lot."

"Who's Rick?"

"He's a cop. Just like me. Just like Shane. He and Shane were like this," I crossed my middle finger over my index finger. "I don't understand why he's not here."

"Maybe you can ask Shane?" Glenn shurgged. "He hasn't said anything about a Rick. Around me, anyways."

"I might later." I looked at him. "I'm not saying this to be rude or offensive but.. Are you Chinese?"

Glenn sighed and shook his head. "Korean, actually."

I shrugged to myself. "Well, I was close. They're all just kind of in that... general area of Asia."

He laughed quietly.

"So... were your parents like... the really pushy Asian stereotype parents?"

"You mean like the ones that were like," he imitated an Asian accent. "You get A, or you get no dinner! Be doctor! Be doctor or be disowned!"

I laughed quietly. "Yeah, that kind."

Glenn smiled a bit. "No, actually. I was the lucky one."

I smiled softly.

Yeah, nice to say Glenn and I hit it off right from the start.


	6. Rick

Chapter Six

 _Rick Grimes was a hunk._

 _I mean honestly. If you didn't think that he was, then you needed to have your eyes checked._

 _Brown hair and blue eyes, he was a Godsend to women. He had a nice jawline, and a slight five o'clock shadow most of the time that I saw him. Unless he shaved that day. But he was yummy either way._

 _He was married to Lori, had been since the day I met him. He also had a young son named Carl, who defintely had his eyes. Since both of his parents had brown hair, he did too. He was kind of stuck with it I guess. I know there's more of a science to it, but that's just how I saw it._

 _I meant to tell Rick about my father. I really did. But he was partnered up with Shane when they were out driving, so I really didn't have the chance. At least at that moment. I always trusted Rick more than I did Shane. I'm not sure why. But I did._

 _One day, I was sitting in my patrol car, munching on some leftover fries when I got the call over my radio._

 _"_ All avaliable units: high-speed pursuit in progress. Linden County units request local assistance. Highway 18 eastbound. GTA, ADW, 2-17, 2-4-3. Advise extreme caution. _"_

 _I turned my siren on. "Seems like lunch is over." I muttered, speeding that direction._

 _"_ Suspects are two male Caucasians. Be advised, they have fired upon police officers. One Linden County officer is wounded. Unit 1, unit 3, to eastbound Route 18, two miles west of Interstate 85. Will patch in Linden County sheriff radio. _"_

 _I stopped listening as I stopped my patrol car and hurried out, grabbing my gun and kneeling down beside one of the cars._

 _"Nice to see you could make it, Meg." Rick teased me._

 _"Shut it, Grimes." I smiled a bit, making sure my gun was loaded._

 _"Sounds like they chasing those idiots up and down every back road we got." An African American man spoke up, pointing his gun forward. I soon did the same._

 _"Maybe we'll get on one of them video shows, you know?" Leon piped up. "Like "World's Craziest Police Chases". What do you think?"_

 _"What I think, Leon, is you need to stay focused, make sure you got a round the chamber and your safety off." Rick somewhat lectured him. In the distance, sirens were soon heard. Leon did as told as we all looked forward._

 _"Would be kinda cool, getting on one of them shows." Shane piped up. I started laughing._

 _Not five seconds later, the car we were going after came into view at high speed. It went over the spikes, skidded a bit and flipped three our four times before finally landing in the grass on the left of us. The engine puttered, and Shane kept an iron grip on his shotgun._

 _"Holy shit." was all he said. A few more officers got out of their cars, guns drawn, as Rick slowly made his way towards the silver car. One man got out, a pistol in his hand._

 _"Gun! Gun! Gun!" an officer shouted._

 _"Put it down!" Rick shouted at the man._

 _"Put the gun down!"_

 _Gunfire was soon heard, as the man shot towards us, and us towards him. Rick was shot down, making Shane shoot faster (and get the guy a couple times). Once he was dead, another came up with a shotgun and began shooting. Rick was moving around on the ground, grunting and wheezing as the second man was shot down._

 _"Rick!" Shane screamed._

 _Wheezing, Rick answered him. "I'm alright!"_

 _Shane made his way over, gun still in his hands. "I saw you get tagged, man."_

 _I hurried over, checking my gun once I got there. "Are you hurt?" I asked, concern on my face. Rick shook his head, doing his best to try and get up._

 _"That scared the hell out of me." Shane added._

 _"Me too." Rick stood. "That son of a bitch shot me. You believe that?"_

 _"What? It catch you in your vest?"_

 _"Yeah." Rick tried to steady his breathing. "Megan, Shane, you do_ not _tell Lori that happened-_ ever _. You understand?" he lifted his arm to make his statement a little more powerful, I suppose, as another gun went off, shooting him right underneath the armpit. Rick screamed in pain and fell to the ground. With one good shot, Shane tagged the motherfucker and killed him._

 _"Police, move in!" an officer shouted._

 _"No, no, no, no, no, no." Shane knelt down next to Rick. As the other officers tried to figure everything out, Shane and I knelt down next to Rick. I placed a hand on his forehead and kept his hair back like how he had it as Shane unbuttoned his best friend's shirt to see how bad it really was, all the while saying "No" over and over. Finally after a second, he looked up. "He's hit!" he screamed._

 _"Hey!" I shouted. "Rick Grimes has been shot! Quit fucking standing around and get help!"_

 _"Leon!" Shane placed my hands over Rick's wound. "Apply pressure." he told me before looking at Leon. "Leon! You get that ambulance down here! You tell them there's an officer down! You do it NOW!" he looked back at Rick, who seemed to see straight through us. "Shh, shh, shh, shh. Hey. I'm here. Meg's here. Hey, you look at me. You stay with me. You hear me? Shh, shh, shh. Okay. We're right here, Rick. You stay with us. You hear me? Shh, shh. That's it. Do you hear me? Shh, shh, shh. Okay."_

 _Soon, other officers came over as Leon tried to get some help over the radio._

 _"What happened?" one asked. I looked at him._

 _"What do you think happened? The man was shot!" I shook my head._

 _"I mean... how."_

 _"An asshole with a gun, that's how!" I shook my head, applying more pressure. Rick's blood flowed inbetween my fingers, and I couldnt help but stare. It was sticky, and the stench of iron was overwhelming. I groaned quietly._

 _"Megan... Megan, hey." Shane removed my hands from the wound and put his on there. "Go sit in your car or something, you look like you're about to throw up."_

 _I shook my head. "I'm fine."_

 _"Megan, go. You don't need to throw up all over Rick, he's got enough to worry about right now."_

 _Once I felt how queasy I was in my stomach, I stumbled away, and fell onto the road. I tried to sit up straight on my knees, breathing into my nose and out of my mouth, trying to make the nausea go away._

 _But that didn't work._

 _I threw up on the side of the road, and felt someone come over next to me, rubbing my back._

 _"You okay?"_

 _It was Leon. Stupid as he may be sometimes, he was a sweet guy._

 _I nodded a couple times. "Yeah, go and see if you can help Rick..." I motioned over to where everyone else was as the ambulance made it's way over._

I sat up in my tent as someone rustled the flaps.

"Who is it?" I whispered.

"Lori."

I unzipped the tent and let the brown haired woman inside. She was beautiful-really beautiful. I could see what Rick saw in her. In her hand was a plate with a little bit of food. A biscuit and some scrambled eggs with a fork.

"Lori, thanks, but... You didn't have to do this." I shook my head.

"Don't start that." Lori put some of her hair behind her ear. "You're here, and you're part of this camp. At least for now, I don't know what your plans are. Here." she gave me the plate. "Eat up. You'll need your strength."

I took the plate from her. "Thanks." I smiled a bit. The eggs did smell great, I had to admit. "So, I don't know if something happened, or..." I cleared my throat before looking at her. "What happened to Rick?" When I mentioned his name, I saw Lori look down and her hand clutched the ring around her neck. "I mean, the last time I saw him, he was in the hospital and still out of it."

The woman across from me cleared her throat. "Rick...ah... Rick didn't make it." she spoke quietly. My eyes widened.

"Was he bit?"

Lori looked at me, tears in her eyes. "I don't know. Shane went to see him at the hospital the day everything happened, and he wasn't able to get him out of there."

My mouth hung open. "So he just left him there?"

"What could he do? Walkers were invading the hospital and everyone in there was getting shot. He couldn't just walk out with him."

I put a hand over my mouth, my heart falling into my stomach.

"Jesus... Lori, I... I'm so sorry..." I placed a hand on her shoulder. "I am. I'm so, so sorry..." I bit my lip. "I didn't know..."

"No, I know... I know you didn't it's just... Hard. And Carl..."

"Yeah..." I sighed. "A boy needs a father figure." I cleared my throat.

"Shane's really stepped up, though."

I raised my eyebrows. "Shane?"

"Yeah."

"Wow." I nodded. "Well, good... Good for Shane." I smiled a bit.

Lori nodded. "Yeah."  
We sat there for a moment before she wiped her face. "I need to go check on Carl."

"Yeah, go on. I'll see you in a bit." I smiled softly. Lori smiled a bit before leaving. I zipped my tent back up and looked at my food, not wanting to eat it. I picked at my eggs with my fork, sighing quietly. After a moment, I started eating. Can't let food go to waste, and it's not like there's a Wingstop anywhere close.


	7. A Group Meeting

A/N: There's a joke in here that I saw on Tumblr and I had to use it. I do not own it. Credit goes to whoever said it!  
Chapter Seven

After a week or so, I had gotten to know everyone a little better.

Andrea and Amy, the two blonde women. They were sisters. Andrea was older by, like, twelve years or something like that. I wasn't exactly sure. They were both beautiful, in my opinion. While Amy had hair straight as a board, Andrea's was wavier, and curled a bit. Amy wore a cute, pink tank top with either jeans or khaki pants; I've seen her in both. Andrea wore more blues, and browns. The love these two had for each other, though, was something special. You could tell Andrea loved her baby sister and vice versa. You could just see it on their faces.

There was Dale. He was a moral compass in a way, and reminded me of one of those older guys who always had some great advice to give. He wore one of those fisherman hats-you know, the stereotypical ones you see in like the movies or in paintings. He usually wore a button down shirt, unbuttoned, with an undershirt and shorts, with sandals. His hair was white, maybe with some grey in it, and his beard was the same way. He had a kind face, and a kind smile, and he really was just a good guy all around.

Then there was T-Dog. That wasn't his real name, obviously, but that's what everyone called him. And let me tell you he did not get along with my father _at all_. Main reason? He was African American, and my father was racist as hell. It pissed me off how racist he was. T-Dog was a good man. From what I could tell, he always wanted to do what was right, and I appreciated that. He wore a lot of greens, like a green t-shirt and pants and things like that. At least, the _pants_ looked green to me. I wasn't entirely sure.

There was an African American woman named Jacqui, but I don't know much about her. I know that she was the only survivor of her family, and used to work as zoning office worker.

Then there was Jim, who was sporting a beard that he kept trimmed nice and neat. He had been through some trauma, but I wasn't sure of what.

There was a Hispanic family-the Morales's-and I didn't know them very well. But they were kind to me and I liked that.

Then there was Carol, her daughter Sophia and her husband Ed. Carol was quiet and kept mainly to herself, and Sophia hung around her a lot. It seemed as if it was mainly Ed who did his best to keep her in line. And by keep her in line, I mean the arguments they would have at night that would end with Carol whimpering, with bruises the next morning. This pissed me off to no end.  
I spoke to Lori about it, but there was only so much we could do. Still, though, it really _pissed me off_.

Glenn and I had gotten close. Not close in a romantic way, but close in a friendly way. He was pretty cool, and made me laugh even when I felt sad and depressed. I wouldn't tell him why, though. I had random bouts of depression, and they came on a little more now that I found out about what had happened to Rick.

"What do you think that is?"

"Um... a cloud?"

"The shape, dingass."

I laughed, snorting a bit. "A Playboy Bunny." Glenn laughed. "Or maybe a horse?"

"I thought it was like a car or something."

"Same difference."

He snorted quietly. We sat there for a moment.

"Did you ever hear of the saying that when an artist dies, God lets them paint the sky? And that's why the clouds are shapes?"

I smirked a bit. "Can't wait for my turn, I'm gonna paint dicks."

"Oh, my God," Glenn started laughing. I grinned and looked at him.

"But in all seriousness, no, I haven't heard that." I looked at the sky again.

"My mom told me that. I'm not sure if it's true, but if it is, then it makes a lot of sense." Glenn said, after calming down his laughter.

"What was your mother like?"

"She was really cool. Like the coolest mom ever." He paused for a second. "Except if you pissed her off. If you pissed her off, you were screwed." I chuckled. "But she was really laid back. She was one of those moms that you could tell anything to. She would listen, and she would try to understand. Even if she didn't, she just let you go on and on about it anyway. She was.. She was awesome."

I looked at him. "Yeah?"

"Oh yeah." He nodded. "I miss her."

"What about your father?"

"Just as cool. Little more strict, but he was still cool. He wanted us to have good grades, but it wasn't like the stereotypical Asian home where like if I or one of my sisters got an F it was to bed with no dinner. We got grounded, but that was it. He was the one who spanked. Mom was the one who talked. So they always had a difference in their parenting ideas in that area but other than that, they agreed on everything."

"What happened to them?"

"I don't know." He sighed. "As far as I know, I'm the only one living in the family."

I bit my lip.

"Hey."

Glenn and I sat up and saw Carl, looking at us.

"What's up, Carl?"

"Shane's calling everyone for a meeting."

"For what?" Glenn asked.

"Supplies I think."

I got up. "Alright, we're comin'."

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"I know you probably don't want to, but we have to go into Atlanta. We gotta go on a supply run. We're running low." Shane stated. And he was right. We were really low on supplies. I just hoped that we didn't have to go any time soon.

"Can't we try another city?" Andrea asked.

"We could, but Atlanta's closer."

"Atlanta is also overrun." Dale piped up. A quiet murmur of voices agreeing with him went throughout the camp.

"It's our only option. Take it or leave it."

The group fell silent for a moment. After that, Lori spoke.

"Who's going to go?"

"I already have a team in mind. Glenn," at this I saw Glenn get an "Of Course It's Me, When Is It Not Me" look on his face. "Andrea, T-Dog, Morales, Jacqui, Merle, and Megan."

"Me?" I gaped at him. "Why me?"

"Because. I trust you. You're great with a gun and you know exactly what it is you want and/or need."

"Yeah, but..." I nodded my head at my father, who I could see out of the corner of my eye.

"You'll have to get over it."

Fucking lovely.

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I sat next to a tree, watching the sunset. We were heading out to Atlanta in the morning, and I needed all the peace I could get. The whole group was going to see a different side of me, seeing as how I'm going to be stuck with my father the whole time.

"Hey."

I looked up. My uncle Daryl leaned on a tree not too far from where I was. His crossbow in hand, he looked as if he was going somewhere.

"Hey." I smiled at him. Daryl hadn't changed a bit. His hair might've gotten shorter, but other than that he was still the same uncle I knew when I was a kid.

"Ain't you gonna give me a hug, kiddo?" he smiled a little. I stood and hurried to him, hugging him tightly.

"I missed you."

"I missed you too." He rubbed my back. "You really grew up."

I laughed a bit, looking at him. "That's what kids do."

He chuckled quietly.

"You goin' somewhere?" I asked as we pulled away from the hug.

"Huntin'. Everyone's complain' 'bout not having any food, so I'm gonna get some."

"Well, that's what I'm going to try to do tomorrow. If father and I don't kill each other first."

Daryl nudged me. "Don't say that shit. He missed you."

I snorted. "Okay."

"He did. I know he ain't a good father, but... He really does love you."

"Got a funny way of showin' it." I sighed.

"That's Merle. He's just an asshole." Daryl shrugged. We watched the sun go down completely before I got up.

"Gotta rest. Got a big day tomorrow." I dusted myself off.

"At least bring a gun or somethin'. Just in case."

"I am."

"Love ya, kiddo."

I smiled softly, looking at him. "I love you too."


	8. To Atlanta We Go

Chapter Eight

It was early in the morning when there was a rapping on my tent.

"Come on, girl."

Before I could retort, the person was gone. I sighed. I knew it was my father. And trust me; his voice wasn't the one I really wanted to hear first thing in the morning. I unzipped the tent and got out, shutting my eyes for a moment because of the bright sunlight. I reached back in for my hairbrush and began brushing my hair.

"Morning, Megan." Amy waved at me. I smiled at her.

"Morning, Amy." I made my way over to the fire pit.

"You ready for today?" Glenn asked, taking a bite out of his biscuit. I sat in a chair.

"Oh yeah. I was so excited I couldn't sleep." I answered sarcastically. He chuckled quietly.

"Eat. You'll need your strength today." Lori handed me the food. I swear, every time I turned around she was making sure I was eating. If it were up to me, I would just let it go. If the person didn't want to eat, I wouldn't make them eat. But I guess that was the Mother Hen part of Lori.

"Thanks." I took the food from her, taking a bite out of my eggs not too long after.

"Megan, your laundry's done." Carol said quietly, sitting in her normal spot. I smiled at her.

"Thank you. You didn't have to do that." At this, the other woman smiled a bit and shrugged. "Oh, before I forget, do you want your shorts back?"

Carol shook her head no. "You keep them." She opened her water bottle and took a drink. I looked at Glenn, who put his red cap on.

"Want me to walk next to you? That way you don't have to deal with Merle the whole time?"

"If you want. He might call you names, though." I sipped my water.

"I've heard them all from him. He likes to call me a Beady-Eyed Bastard when he's particularly angry with me. I don't pay any attention. He's a racist prick."

I nodded. "Yeah. You can say that again."

"He's a racist prick."

I flicked my water cap at him, and heard Carol giggle at the scene. I smiled softly.

It was the first time I heard her do that.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

"Got your gun?" Shane asked. I smirked a bit, holding and loading my pistol.

"I sure the fuck do." I put it in my holster once I was done.

"Remember, save your bullets. You'll need them. And don't waste any on Merle, either."

I chuckled quietly, catching his joke. "Yeah. No promises."

"Megan." Shane got a bit of a scolding tone in his voice.

"Shane." I mocked it. "It'll be fine. You know, if you're _that_ worried about it, why don't you come with us?"

"I can't. I'm in charge here." Shane shook his head. I nodded.

"Why didn't you... Tell me about Rick?"

"Because I knew it would upset you."

"Still." My bottom lip quivered a bit and I did my best to try and stop it. "He was my friend too... I... I shouldn't have had to find out of from Lori..."

"Why did she tell you?"

"I asked. Why else would she?" Shane shook his head and looked down and slightly to the right. "Look. I'm glad I know, but at the same time I wish you were the one that told me. Not her. It's killing her inside."

"Oh, and it's not killing me?" he snapped.

"I didn't say that." I spoke calmly. "I know it is. It's killing me too. I love Rick. He's an amazing man."

"He _was_..." Shane muttered bitterly. I refrained from smacking him.

"But... You don't have to keep the whole Rick thing a secret from me anymore.. I know." I nodded. "We'll be back later. Either later tonight or tomorrow, I don't know."

"Be safe." Shane's voice was still quiet.

"Yeah, thanks." I nodded and walked over to the group. Glenn was staring at the grass like it was the most fascinating thing in the world, and Andrea and Amy were saying their goodbyes. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father load his shotgun and aim it for a moment before bringing it down a bit. Jacqui and T-Dog were chatting, and I heard T-Dog laugh at a joke. Morales hugged his wife and kissed her forehead before walking over to the group. I crossed my arms.

"You guys ready to go?"

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

The woods weren't really creepy during the day. The only thing that creeped me out was that getting into Atlanta, we were going to be hit head on by a _shitton_ of walkers.

Yeah. Really wasn't looking forward to that.

It was funny, though. The birds were singing as if nothing was happening. As if the end of the world hadn't started. Even as we got closer to Atlanta, and the city loomed in the distance, the birds still sang.

"Would you look at that?" Andrea's voice was quiet. I shook my head. I've been to Atlanta before, but not like this. When it was bustling with people, and they were actually _alive_. That was when I've been to Atlanta. Not when a bunch of dead people were shuffling around.

This is going to be an experience, that's for sure. I had no idea what I was going to expect, but I knew it was going to be something. Especially since I had to be stuck with Merle Dixon the entire time.

As of now, he was next to Andrea, and the two were discussing something. At least, Merle was talking. Andrea wasn't even looking at him. She was giving him the "Talk to the Hand" type body language. Comical, really. I cleared my throat.

"Hey. You gonna try and talk to her all day or do you wanna get moving?"

"This has nothin' to do with you." My father snapped at me.

"Oh, like hell it doesn't." I crossed my arms. "She don't wanna talk. Leave her alone. Let's get into Atlanta and get out." I snapped back.

"The law don't apply here anymore, sweetheart. I can do whatever the hell I want."

My hand went to my gun. "Wanna fuckin' bet?"

My father held up his shotgun and I held my pistol, turning my safety off.

"Don't test me, girl. I don't care who you are, you point a gun at me and your ass will be on the ground in five seconds flat."

I smirked a bit, about to retort when I saw Andrea shake her head.

"You shoot each other now, and all you'll be doing is wasting bullets and drawing the walkers out here. And I'm not talking one or two; I'm talking about a herd. So. You either do something stupid, or we make our way into Atlanta, get the things we need, and get out."

"It ain't that simple though. We have a huge group of walkers to fight through." I told her.

"Which is why we need the ammo. Now, you two can do what you want, but I'm going to Atlanta." T-Dog walked a good distance away from the group, towards the city.

"Me too." Jacqui muttered, following him. Both Morales and Glenn exchanged a look before following. Andrea watched us both.

"Coming or not?" She snapped. I lowered my pistol, turning my safety back on.

"Watch yourself." I snapped at my father before following them. I heard him laugh a bit, taunting me.

"You can say what you want, little girl, but at the end of the day you're still my kid."

I did my best not to smack him or say anything.


	9. Days Gone Bye

Chapter Nine

 _Lady Marmalade, Moulin Rouge edition, blasted over the speakers. I sipped my white lightning slowly, knowing how alcohol had an effect on me. And, trust me; I did_ not _need a repeat of Grimes Christmas Party, 2007. Thank God the kid was away at his grandparents' for the night. I was a drunken fool._

" _What're you doing over here by yourself?" A voice next to me asked. I looked over. A clean shaven Rick, that actually was not wearing his uniform for once, leaned on the bar next to me. "It's a nightclub, Meg. People usually dance."_

 _I smiled softly. "I ain't the dancin' type."_

" _Who says?"_

"I _do, Grimes. Come on. You honestly don't want me dancing. I look terrible. Besides, I think you should keep more of an eye on Shane. He's pretty hammered tonight."_

" _Last time I checked he was following Tori around like a love-sick puppy dog."_

 _I laughed. Tori Smalls was new to the force. Long brown hair, deep blue eyes, with full lips and high cheekbones. She had an hourglass figure to die for, and she at least at had DD's. Now I know what God did with the rest of my body, the bastard. I mean, I wasn't flat chested but I would love for at least a DD. But no I have a fucking 34D. So, you know, bump it up a bit. Not a lot, but a little bit. I had a bit of a figure, but it wasn't a 'killer figure' that all men lusted after.  
It was frustrating._

" _What about your wife?" I raised my eyebrows._

" _She's at our table."_

 _I nodded. "She knows you're over here?"_

" _Yeah. She wanted a margarita."_

 _I nodded again, stirring my drink with my straw. "Still not dancing."_

 _Rick chuckled to himself. "I didn't expect you to." He smiled a bit. "Just loosen up a bit. You'll have more fun that way."_

 _I smiled softly and he clapped me on the back lightly, before ordering Lori's drink._

We slowly made our way into the city, and it looked like one of those ghost towns. It was eerie. The buildings were empty, looking almost ominous. Windows were broken; trash was all over the roads. Cars were still parked, as if the owners were going to suddenly come out, hop in them and drive off, minding their own business. Though, the logical side of me knew that the majority, if not all, of those people that parked there were walkers now.

"It's so quiet..." Glenn muttered.

"This is freaking me out a bit." T-Dog spoke quietly. At this remark, I saw my father roll his eyes. I did my best to not go over to him and smack him then and there.

"So." I looked at everyone else. "Where do you think we should go first?"

"We need food, so I would say a grocery store. That's just logical." Andrea piped up.

"You also have to think about if those were raided or not, already." Jacqui reminded her.

"This place is overrun. I don't think anyone would be stupid enough to raid a city that's full of walkers." Morales said.

"Nobody except us." Glenn said.

Well shit. He had a point.

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I walked over to a department store. We had been in Atlanta for a while, and Glenn was carrying some supplies. I peeked inside, cupping my hands around my face to see better. Inside, a pretty, frilly light blue top caught my eye. It was low cut, and seemed to enhance the figure a bit. You know, how sometimes when you see a shirt and it has a curve in it, it always enhances your figure? Yeah, that's what I meant. And I really, really wanted it.  
There was groaning behind me, and I spun on my heel, drawing my gun, and pistol whipping a walker in the face. It stumbled once before I shot it in the head. It fell to the ground like a sack of shit and just sat there. I wiped my gun on my shirt and put it back in its holster.

"Are you crazy?" Morales snapped. I stared at him. "Do you know how many walkers are in this city?"

"It was my first thought, okay? Calm the fuck down!"

"You didn't think to grab the knife?"

"No!"

"Guys..." Glenn's voice piped up.

"I'm a cop. My first instinct is to go for the gun." I ignored him. Morales rolled his eyes. "It was part of my training. I'm used to it. So sorry I pissed you off."

"Guys!"

I looked over at Glenn, who pointed-almost frantically-at an oncoming herd of walkers. I stared at it.

"Shit."

Andrea made a beeline for the doors, rattling them for only a moment before yanking them open.

"Get in, now!" She yelled. All of us scurried to the door, Glenn dropping the supplies in the process. He started to go back for them, but T-Dog pushed him inside.

"Leave them!" he yelled, following him inside. Andrea ran in next, and I held the door open for Morales and Jacqui. I started to go inside but stopped when I heard a gunshot. I turned, and Merle was standing there, shooting at the walkers. Some fell to the ground, others staggered a bit. That part didn't matter. What mattered was that the herd was getting closer, and my father was standing out in the middle of the road shooting at them. Now he may piss me off to no end, but Merle Dixon was still my father. My heart began to pound as the walkers sped up a bit.

"Dad!" I screamed. He looked over at me, and I waved him in. I'm sure the panic and worry was etched across my face. "Stop shooting!"

"One more!"

"No!" Gunshot. "Goddammit!" I ran from the door.

"Megan!" Glenn yelled my name. I didn't turn. I grabbed my father's arm and tried to yank him back.

"Please, go inside!" He looked at me, and I didn't say anything. I think the look on my face was enough because he nodded once.

"Fine, alright." He said. I pushed him lightly towards the door before sprinting towards it. The walkers were getting closer, and the groaning noises they were making were starting to become unbearable.  
We made it in, and Glenn locked the door right as the walkers reached the doors and began pounding on them. I collapsed, my legs and hands shaking uncontrollably.

"That was so stupid!" Andrea screamed. "Why the _fuck_ would you think about doing something so stupid!"

"I got a few of them, didn't I?" My father snapped back.

"That doesn't do anything about the rest of that herd! Who knows how many of those things heard that shot! This city is _overrun_! I bet you anything there's more than one herd here!"

"Shut _up_!" I screamed at them. Both Andrea and Merle looked at me. "Listen, if you're so Goddamn curious about how many herds there are or whatever the hell, how about you go to the damn rooftop or some shit?"

"I'm staying down here." Andrea crossed her arms.

"Well that's just fuckin' _dandy_. I'm going to the rooftop." I got up, and started to look for stairs, my limbs no longer shaking. "And this blue shirt is _mine_." I snatched it off the rack and found the stairs at the end of the room. I started up them when I heard Andrea remark "Now I see how you two are related."  
It took all in my power to not smack her.

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I was lying on top of the roof for a while, I honestly don't know how long. I kept my arm over my face, and was actually about to drift off when I heard the big metal door close, not paying any attention to the helicopter soon after. I removed my arm, and the first thing that hit me was the sun right in my face. I groaned, and looked away and towards the door to see Glenn walk over to me.

"You okay?"

"Mhm. Peachy keen." I told him. He looked at my blue shirt.

"Nice shirt."

I smiled softly. "Thanks. It's brand new."

He chuckled quietly. We sat in silence for a moment before he spoke again. "That was brave, what you did."

"You mean, saving Merle's ass?" I shrugged. "It's what any other decent person would've done."

"Yeah, but you two have a history. And it isn't exactly a great one."

"True..." I nodded.

A horse neighing caught our attention. Glenn and I looked at each other. We've been in the city for hours and there was no sign of a horse.

"What the hell..?" I muttered and got up. I walked to the side of the rooftop as everyone else hurried up onto the rooftop.

"We thought we heard a horse." T-Dog said.

"You did." I answered. I heard my father open his shotgun, but didn't look back. We watched as the walkers took the horse down. The man who was on it dropped his bag and scrambled underneath the tank. I put a hand over my mouth as I saw the horse being torn apart. I loved animals, and to see that broke my heart. A group of walkers made their way to the tank, and some underneath it.

"Think he's dead?" Andrea asked.

"Unless he can get into that tank, he's done." Morales spoke up. After a while, I saw the man come up out of the top hatch before he quickly shut it.

"He's alive." I said.

"But is he bit?" My father raised his gun, aiming. Glenn yanked the walkie-talkie off his belt, turning it on soon after.

"Hey you." His voice was practically dripping with sarcasm. "Dumbass. Yeah, you in the tank. Cozy in there?"


	10. Officer Friendly

Chapter Ten

Glenn waited for a minute or so before speaking into the walkie talkie again.

"Hey, are you alive in there?" He asked.

" _Hello_? _Hello_?" A frightened voice came through. I sat there for a moment, thinking to myself. The voice sounded awfully familiar.

Glenn gave a sigh of relief. "There you are. You had me wondering."

" _Where are you_? _Outside_? _Can you see me right now_?" the man asked.

"Yeah, I can see you. You're surrounded by walkers. That's the bad news." Glenn took his cap off and scratched his head for a moment before putting it back on.

" _There's good news_?" The man's voice was dripping with skepticism and I chuckled. Yeah, I would most likely feel the same way. Surrounded by walkers, you bet your ass I would be skeptical.

"No." Glenn answered simply.

" _Listen, whoever you are, I don't mind telling you I'm a little concerned in here_." The voice was now dripping with annoyance and frustration.

"Oh, man. You should see it from over here." Glenn told him. "You'd be having a _major_ freak out."

" _Got any advice for me_?"

"Yeah. I'd say make a run for it."

" _That's it_? _"Make a run for it"_?" I'm not sure whether or not if it was more frustration than annoyance this time, but I could tell this guy was _not_ exactly the happiest camper in the world as of now.

"My way's not as dumb as it sounds. You've got eyes on the outside here. There's one geek still up on the tank, but the others have climbed down and joined the feeding frenzy where the horse went down. With me so far?"

" _So far_." The annoyance was still in the voice.

"Okay. The street on the other side of the tank is less crowded. If you move now while they're distracted, you stand a chance. You got ammo?"

" _In that duffel bag_ _I dropped out there, and guns_. _Can I get to it_?"

"Ah, shit man." I bit my lip.

"Forget the bag, okay? It's not an option." Glenn advised. Now if it were food, it might have been a little less-or more-critical. Clothes, eh. Photos, possibly. But ammo? Man, that's some rotten fucking luck right there. I shook my head. This poor son of a bitch. "What do you have on you?" he asked.

" _Hang on_." The man went off. I looked at Glenn.

"If there weren't so many walkers around that thing, that bag would be an _amazing_ fucking thing to bring back." I said.

"I know, but we can't take a risk."

"Yeah, if one of us gets bit, it's game over." Andrea spoke up.

" _I've got a Beretta with one clip. 15 rounds_." The man came back on.

"Make 'em count." Glenn told him. "Jump off the right side of the tank, keep going in that direction. There's an alley up the street, maybe 50 yards." As he was saying this, Glenn was making his way to the other side of the rooftop. "Be there."

" _Hey... What's your name_?" I heard the man ask.

"Have you been listening? You're running out of time!" He made his way down the ladder. I watched as the man got out of the tank, and basically bitch slapped a walker with something he had in his hand. After that, he leaped out of the tank before rolling on the ground. He began running, though slowly as he looked like he was limping, and began shooting his way through the city. I saw him meet up with Glenn, who yelled something before the two made their way through the alley. My father cocked his shotgun and I looked at him.

"What're you doing?"

"I'm gonna finish what I started."

"Oh, no you ain't! Doing that will draw more attention and then we'll never get out of here. Forget it!" I snapped. My father rolled his eyes and aimed his gun again. I sighed. "Put the gun down."

"Don't tell me what to do."

"Goddammit! Put it down!"

Merle got a cocky ass smirk on his face before retorting. "No."

I growled a bit and went for my gun, but Jacqui held me back. Merle chuckled for a moment before aiming his gun. Glenn's voice soon came through.

" _I'm back. Got a guest plus four geeks in the alley_."

Morales, Andrea, Jacqui, and T-Dog started to leave to go and help out.

"Don't do anything stupid." Andrea snapped. I glared at my father.

"You heard her."

"She was talkin' to you. Now." He cocked his gun again. "I'm gonna do whatever the hell I wanna do." He snapped.

"You sure the hell ain't!" I yanked the gun from him the best I could, though he still had his hands on it.

"What're you gonna do? Arrest me, officer?" he laughed before yanking the gun out of my hands.

And almost tossing me off the roof.

I screamed, clutching the edge with an iron grip. I could feel there was nothing underneath my feet, and if I looked down I would've seen how far up I was. Which wasn't exactly the best idea at the time.  
I began to pull myself up the best I could, my feet scrambling for a grip on the bricks. Since these were flat, however, I was having very little luck. There was a fleeting moment where they would latch before the small edge was gone. I fell back once more, and my father shot his gun, making me scream again. He fired again and again, and I wasn't even halfway up the edge.

Gee. Thanks _Dad_.

The door slammed open, and everyone ran onto the rooftop.

"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?" Morales screamed. My father laughed in response.

"Shit, Meg!" Glenn hurried over to me, and grabbed my forearm. "Come on."

"Pull me up!"

"I'm trying!"

I pushed myself up, and Glenn pulled, until I was safely back on the roof. I panted quietly, laying there for a moment. I shut my eyes, though the gunshots made it hard for me to calm down.

"Jesus..."

"You okay?" I heard Glenn ask.

"Yeah."

"Good."

"Oh, jeez." Andrea sighed. I opened my eyes and sat up a bit. My father turned and looked at them.

"Huh? Hey!" he snapped. "You ought to be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh?" He hopped off the ledge. "Only common sense. Miss Priss learned that the hard way." He laughed.

I glared and flipped him off.

"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got, man!" T-Dog ran over to him. "And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill."

"Hey, bad enough I got this taco-bender on my ass all day. Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."

"Oh, shit..." I ran a hand through my hair. There was a fight brewing here.

""That'll be the day"?" T-Dog got more agitated. "You got something you want to tell me?"

"Hey, T-Dog, man, just leave it." Morales told him.

"No!"

"Alright? It ain't worth it." Morales was doing his best to diffuse the situation. But knowing my father, he was going to bring it all the way back up to a head. Maybe even then some. "Now, Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble." I saw Glenn and the new guy look at each other.  
I never really took my time to look at this man. It wasn't the first thing on my mind. I was watching to see if T-Dog and my father were going to get into a fight. I saw him wearing the police uniform that my department wore, so it was likely I knew him. But that's all I really cared about right now. I stayed on the ground, watching everything play out.

"You want to know the day?" My father was ignoring Morales completely. Figures.

"Yeah." T-Dog nodded.

"I'll tell you the day, Mr. "Yo"." Merle did a little gang gesture. "It's the day I take orders from a nigger."

"Mother—!" T-Dog punched him in the face, and my father knocked him down with his gun.

"Hey, come on, Merle, that's enough!" Morales yelled.

"Okay, come on! Come on!" Andrea ran over, as did the new guy. I stood and shook my head for a moment (I was dizzy for about a half a second) and then started running over there as Merle and T-Dog kept fighting. The new guy tried to break it up, but got a punch to the face. "Dixon! Dixon!" Andrea shouted.

"Whoa, cut it out, man!" Morales yelled at him. T-Dog wasn't really getting a hit in. I put my hands over my mouth, watching the whole thing.

"Stop it!" Andrea yelled as Merle slammed T-Dog into a pipe. "Dixon, come on! Get off him! Dixon, you're gonna hurt him!"

My father kicked T-Dog I don't know how many times before getting on the ground and punching him again. It was then that I noticed the new guy get up and then check his nose for blood. Morales then ran over to try and break it up, but got elbowed in the stomach. Merle pulled out a pistol and put it in T-Dog's face, and I screamed.

"Merle, no!"

The new guy turned and looked at me and my eyes widened. Pretty blue eyes, sorta-kinda clean shaven, dark curly hair. Perfect jawline...

It was motherfuckin' Rick Grimes. He wasn't dead after all. Praise Jesus.

"Megan?"

"Rick?"

It was Andrea's "No, no, no, please. Please." that made Rick turn and look at the scene again. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and I heard T-Dog grunt for a little bit, while trying to catch his breath. Merle spit on him before letting out an angry yell.

"Yeah! Alright! We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh?" he stood up straight, the pistol still in his hand. "Talk about who's in charge."

I walked closer to Rick, putting my hand over my mouth. I was still watching the scene, and was honestly terrified by what I saw. Everyone else helped T-Dog up.

"I vote me!" Merle continued. "Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, huh?" he raised a hand in the air. "All in favor? Huh? Come on. Let's see 'em." At this, Rick got closer and picked up the shotgun. He looked at me and put a finger to his lips. I nodded. He turned and looked back at what was going on.

"Oh, come on." Andrea muttered.

"All in favor."

"Hell no." I rolled my eyes. My comment was kept to myself, so no one really heard me.

"Yeah. That's good." At this statement, I saw Jacqui flip him off. Andrea raised her hand. "Yeah, that means I'm the boss, right? Yeah. Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?"

"Yeah." Rick spoke up, before hitting him with the gun. He then handcuffed him to the same pipe that Merle had slammed T-Dog into not too long ago.

"Who the hell are you, man?!" My father's voice was agitated.

"Officer Friendly." Rick snapped, and picked up the pistol. "Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no niggers anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either."

"You're lookin' at one, though." I snapped.

"Little girl-" Merle started before I reached for my gun.

"Megan!" Andrea yelled. Rick looked at me.

"Megan. Hand off the gun. _Now_." His voice was stern. I swallowed hard and nodded, doing as he said. Rick then looked back at my father. "Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together. Not apart."

"Screw you, man." My father rolled his eyes.

"I can see you make a habit of missing the point." Rick continued. Oh yeah. A number of times. Trust me.

"Yeah? Well, screw you twice."

I volunteer.

Rick put the pistol to my father's head and my eyes widened.

"Ought to be polite to a man with a gun." He snarled. "Only common sense.

"You wouldn't. You're a _cop_."

He took the gun away from his head. "All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose." I could practically hear the venom in his voice. "I'll give you a moment to think about that." He then patted him down before taking something out of the pocket of his vest. "Got some on your nose there." Rick flicked my father's nose before standing up.

"What're you gonna do? Arrest me?" He laughed. Rick walked over to the edge of the roof and tossed whatever was in his hand away. "Hey! Dude, what're you doing? Man that's my stuff!"

I snorted. "Not anymore." I smirked a bit, and I saw Glenn stifle a chuckle. Rick took one look at him before walking away.

"Hey! If I get loose, you better pray—! Yeah you hear me, you pig?! You hear me?!"

"Yeah, your voice carries." Rick muttered, walking to the other ledge.

"You hear me, you filthy pig?!"

Morales walked over to Rick and the two began a conversation. Thunder rumbled once more, and the moans of the walkers was almost deafening.


	11. I Don't Think Those Rules Apply Anymore

Chapter Eleven

After a minute or two, Morales and Rick made their way over to T-Dog, who was fiddling with his walkie talkie.

"How's that signal?" Morales asked.

"Like Dixon's brain—weak." T-Dog responded. I laughed. My father flipped us both off.

"Keep trying." Morales sighed.

"Why? There's nothing they can do." Andrea said. "Not a damn thing."

"Got some people outside the city is all." Morales explained as Rick leaned on the ledge. "There's no refugee venter. That's a pipe dream."

"From what I heard, Atlanta was overrun the day of, practically." I added.

"Then she's right. We're on our own." Rick sighed. "It's up to us to find a way out."

"Good luck with that." Merle piped up. "These streets ain't safe in this part of town from what I hear." He smirked over at Andrea, who was opening a bag. "Ain't that right, sugar tits?" Andrea looked at him. "Hey, honeybunch, what say you get me out of these cuffs, we go off somewhere and bump some uglies? Gonna die anyway."

"I'd rather." Andrea snapped.

"Rug muncher. I figured as much."

"Quit being so disgusting." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms.

"How about you quit being so high and mighty? Everyone gets horny sooner or later. How do you think you were made?"

I thinned my lips and took one step towards him, but Glenn pulled me back.

"No, no, no, no, no, no, no. No more fighting." He stayed beside me, his hand on my arm.

""The streets ain't safe." Now there's an understatement." Morales muttered.

"What about under the streets? The sewers?" Rick suggested.

"Oh man." At this, I patted Rick on the back once. "Hey, Glenn, check the alley."

"Good idea." I whispered.

"Thanks." Rick gave me a soft half smile for a moment before looking at Glenn. I did my best to make my heart be still. God, his smile...

"You see any manhole covers?" Morales asked. Glenn hopped up, running over to another roof. He looked over at it before coming back. Thunder rumbled again as he did.

"No. Must be all out on the streets where the geeks are." He said.

"Shit." I scratched my head.

"Maybe not." Jacqui spoke. "Old building like this built in the '20s—big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers, in case of flooding down in the subbasements."

"How do you know that?" Glenn asked.

"It's my job—was." She looked at Rick. "I worked in the city-zoning office."

"Boom, there it is." I picked my shirt up from off the ground and started for the door.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Glenn, Rick, Andrea, Jacqui, Morales and I made our way to the subbasement, with only a couple of flashlights leading the way. We leaned over a yellow railing and saw a drainage tunnel. It didn't exactly smell amazing, though.

"This is it? Are you sure?" Morales asked.

"I only scoped this place out the other times I was here." Glenn told him. "It's the only thing in the building that goes down. But I've never gone down it. Who'd want to, right?"

"It smells like shit." I muttered.

It seemed, though, that everyone got the same idea at the same time. We all looked at Glenn, who grimaced.

"Oh... Great."

"We'll be right behind you." Andrea told him.

"No, you won't. Not you."

"Why not me? Think I can't?"

"I wasn't—" Glenn fumbled over his words for a moment.

"Speak your mind." Rick told him.

"Look..." Glenn started. "Until now, I always came here by myself—in and out, grab a few things—no problem. The first time I bring a group—everything goes to hell. No offense."

"None taken." I shook my head. Andrea rolled her eyes.

"If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine—but only if we do it my way. It's tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don't want you all jammed up behind me, getting me killed. I'll take one person—not you either." He added quickly as Rick started to take a step forward. "You've got Merle's gun and I've seen you shoot. I'd feel better if you were out in that store, watching those doors, covering our ass." He then looked at me and Andrea. "You've got the other guns, so you should go with him."

"But Glenn—" I started and Glenn shook his head.

"No buts. Don't argue with me." He pointed at Morales. "You'll be my wingman. Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry."

"Okay." Jacqui nodded.

"Okay." Rick nodded. "Everybody knows their jobs." He clapped Glenn on the back lightly. Glenn put the flashlight in his mouth and started climbing down the yellow ladder that was attached to the railing. Morales followed him soon after. Once they were both down there safely, Rick, Andrea and I left.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Up in the store, I could hear the horde of walkers groaning and banging on the door. It was unsettling, to say the very least.

"Sorry for the gun in your face." Andrea spoke up.

"People do things when they're afraid." Rick told her.

"Not that it was entirely unjustified. You did get us into this." she told him.

"If I get us out, would that make up for it?"

"No. But it'd be a start."

The groaning got more and more agitated. I stayed out of sight, looking at a few more clothes.

"Next time though, take the safety off." Rick advised her. I hid my laughter. "It won't shoot otherwise."

"Oh."

"Is that your gun?"

"It was a gift. Why?"

Rick walked over to her and took it from her gently, and I heard the gun click. "Little red dot means it's ready to fire. You may have occasion to use it."

"Good to know."

I walked away from the clothes, and over to the display case.

"So, Rick, exactly how did you get here?" I crossed my arms.

"It's a long story. I'll tell you when we got the time."

"Sounds like a deal." I smiled softly.

"How about you?"

"Same thing, Grimes. Same thing. I'll tell you when we have time." I chuckled. He smiled at me. God-fucking-dammit. Stop smiling. You're making me wanna kiss you and I don't wanna do that because you still have your wife and son. Goddammit Rick. "I'm glad you're okay, though." I smiled a bit.

"I'm glad you are, too." He leaned on the case a bit. "It's nice to see a familiar face."

I smiled more.

"You two know each other?" Andrea asked.

"We used to work together." Rick answered.

"Before the whole world went to shit." I added.

Andrea nodded before she started looking around. I scratched my cheek lightly.

"That man you got up there, you know, handcuffed to the pipe?" I hopped up on the case.

"What about him?"

"That's my dad." I bit the inside of my cheek.

"No he's not." Rick shook his head.

"Yes he is." I nodded.

"I refuse to believe that. You don't even look related."

I laughed a bit. "Well, I've always been told that I look like my Mama. Thank God."

The two of us chuckled, and sat in silence for a moment. A "Mmm." from Andrea made us look over at her. She was looking at a necklace, a smile on her face. Rick walked over to her.

"See something you like?" He asked.

"Not me, but I know someone who would—my sister." She looked up at him. I walked over and saw that she was holding the mermaid charm in her hand.

"It's pretty." I smiled a bit.

"Yeah." Andrea nodded. "She's still such a kid in some ways. Unicorns, dragons—she's into all that stuff. But mermaids—they rule. She loves mermaids."

"Why not take it?" Rick asked.

"There's two cops staring at me." She joked. Rick and I chuckled quietly. We stood in silence for a moment before she looked at me, before looking at him. "Would it be considered looting?"

I looked at Rick. "What do you think?"

"I don't think those rules apply anymore. Do you?" he asked Andrea. In response, the blonde took the mermaid necklace off the display and put it in her pocket.

Then, the glass shattered.

"Oh, shit."

We ran to the doors and the walkers made their way through the first set and began banging on the second set. We drew our guns as Morales, Jacqui and Glenn hurried in.

"What did you find down there?" Rick asked.

"Not a way out." Morales answered.

"We need to find a way... soon." Andrea said.


	12. Guts

Chapter Twelve

We were back on the rooftop, looking over. It wasn't safe down there anymore. Those other doors were going to give out soon. Rick took the binoculars off his face.

"That construction site, those trucks—they always keep keys on hand." He handed them back to Morales.

"You'll never make it past the walkers." Morales told him.

"You got me out of that tank." Rick looked at Glenn.

"Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted." Glenn explained.

"Can we distract them again?"

"Right. Listen to him. He's onto something." My father spoke up. "A diversion, like on "Hogan's Heroes.""

"God, give it a rest." Jacqui snapped. Almost all of us were tired of his shit.

"They're drawn by sound, right?" Rick asked.

"Right. Like dogs. They hear a sound, they come." Glenn nodded.

"You could just whistle at them and they'll hurry over. I'm not kidding." I crossed my arms.

"What else?" Rick asked.

"Aside from they hear you?" Morales asked. "They see you, smell you and if they catch you, they eat you."

Boom. Simple as that.

"They can tell us by smell?"

"Can't you?" Glenn asked.

"They smell dead, we don't. It's pretty distinct." Andrea spoke up.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

We were back down in the store, save for my father, and Glenn was on edge. Well, we all were. Glenn the most.

"If bad ideas were an Olympic event, this would take the gold."

"He's right. Just stop, okay? Take some time to think this through." Morales pleaded with Rick.

"How much time? They already got through one set of doors. That glass won't hold forever." He threw a jacket at Glenn, and then one at me. After that, he handed one to Morales, Andrea, T-Dog and Jacqui.

Let me explain. Rick got the bright idea to go and tear a walker open, and put their insides all over ourselves. We all had a pair of gloves to perform the procedure.  
Trust me. I'm not fucking excited. Like at all.

I put my gloves and jacket on, grumbling to myself.

"Quit grumbling. The sooner we do this, the sooner it's over." Rick snapped, putting his jacket on and buttoning it up. Glenn and I looked at each other. "Let's go."

We ran to the back door and opened it. Glenn grabbed one of the bats beside the door, holding it like his life depended on it. Rick and Morales ran out and grabbed a walker that was dead on the ground. One was walking around in the alley, groaning. They dragged the walker inside and Glenn quickly shut the door. Rick put a shield over his face and had the face cover part up. I guess you could say shield. I don't care.  
Face cover thingy.

He sighed before letting it cover his face, and used a crowbar to smash the glass that was covering a red axe. After that, he took it and walked over to the lifeless body on the floor. He went to slam the axe down in the body, and Glenn turned away, but Rick stopped. He threw the face shield and axe on the ground, his gloves following soon after. He then reached in the walker's pockets, taking out its wallet. He opened it and looked at the ID.  
I knew exactly what he was doing.

"Wayne Dunlap." He said. "Georgia license. Born in 1979." He handed the ID to Glenn, and continued to look through Wayne Dunlap's wallet. "He had $28 in his pocket when he died, and a picture of a pretty girl." He looked at the picture before turning it around and looking at the back. ""With love, from Rachel."" He read. "He used to be like us. Worrying about bills, or the rent or the Super Bowl."

"Stanley Cup." I added. He smiled a bit. I loved hockey, so whenever I heard something about another sport, I would add in how important the Stanley Cup was.

"Stanley Cup..." Rick nodded. "If I ever find my family, I'm gonna tell them about Wayne." He looked at all of us before giving Wayne his wallet back. I went to tell him about Lori. And Carl, and Shane but I kept my mouth shut. He had put the shield back over his face, put his gloves on and picked up the axe.

"One more thing—" Glenn started. "He was an organ donor."

I bit my lip, feeling the top layer of skin peel off. It wasn't enough to give me a bloody lip, but it was still a little painful.

Right after that, Rick slammed the axe down on Wayne Dunlap. We all turned around, not being able to look at the scene.

"Madre de Dios!" Morales exclaimed quietly. I covered my mouth with my hand. The smell was horrible. It was worse than when Rick had gotten shot. One more hit, and Rick had chopped off this poor man's leg.

"Oh! God... damn it!" Glenn yelled. Rick chopped off the man's arm off next.

"Dios!"

"Oh God."

"Holy fuck..." I turned away from the scene. Rick hit Wayne two more times before I heard him groan.

"Keep chopping." I looked as he handed the shield and axe to Morales, who looked less than happy. Glenn groaned more.

"I am so gonna hurl." He put his hands on his knees.

"Later." Rick told him. Morales chopped Wayne Dunlap up about five more times before Rick spoke again. "Everybody got gloves?" he asked. Glenn groaned loudly. "Don't get any on your skin or in your eyes."

And with that, we all bent down and put our hands in this poor man's insides. Rick was the first to put it on his body. Jacqui, Andrea, and T-Dog went to help him, as a still groaning Glenn was doing his best to put the guts on himself and not puke at the same time. I stayed back, not sure what to do with my handful.

"Go on." Rick told me. I stared at him. "On the jacket."

"Rick, no..." I groaned.

"Go on, you'll be okay."

I grimaced at the guts in my hands before putting them on the previously clean jacket.

Andrea grabbed the intestine, and Glenn groaned more.

"Oh, God!" he stiffened up as she put it around his shoulders. "Oh jeez. Oh, this is bad. This is really bad."

I felt T-Dog put some guts on my shoulders and the three of us stood there as Glenn began to pale. I was the least covered, but Jacqui put some more guts down my front and I bit the inside of my cheek again.

"Think about something else—puppies and kittens."

"Dead puppies and kittens." T-Dog spoke. And with that, Glenn turned around and threw up.

"That is just evil. What is wrong with you?" Andrea snapped.

"Next time, let the cracker beat his ass." Jacqui added.

"I'm sorry, yo." T-Dog apologized.

"You suck!" Glenn yelled as Andrea put the intestine back over his shoulders.

"Do we smell like them?" Rick asked.

"Oh yeah." Andrea grimaced. "Glenn." She showed him her gun. "Just in case." She put it in the waistband of his pants.

"If we make it back, be ready."

"If?" I stared at Rick. " _If_?" My eyes widened and my nostrils flared. "We best make it back, motherfucker, I don't wanna die covered in guts!"

"You aren't. At least, that's not part of the plan."

Glenn groaned again at the idea, and Andrea lightly kicked me in the shin—not enough to hurt, but enough to quiet me—and I rolled my eyes. It wasn't a fun prospect. Trust me.

"What about Merle Dixon?" T-Dog asked. Rick reached into his pocket and pulled out the key to the handcuffs, tossing it over to T-Dog soon after.

"Give me the axe." Rick held his hand out. Morales handed him the axe as Rick put his glove back on. "We need—we need more guts."

"Oh, God!" Andrea turned away.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

After what seemed like forever, Glenn, Rick and I walked out of the room. They each had either hands or feet around their necks. I got lovely smelling chunks of legs and arms. We looked at each other before heading out, walking stiffly like a walker would. Two were in the alley, and looked at us. We went right by them without any problems. My heart was racing the entire time. Even as we crawled under the bus, I thought we were goners. The groaning got louder and louder, and I started shaking a bit. Once we were upright, Rick looked at me, mouthed the words "Calm down" and we started to make our way through the crowd. The thunder rumbled louder, and longer, than before. It put me more on edge. Great. Just great. We're gonna get a fucking storm. I really hope this stench lasts because I'm going to have a panic attack.  
Not five seconds after, thunder rumbled again. And again. It was getting longer and louder and was really beginning to scare me. But still, we were able to make our way through the walkers. We had to go slow, because if we ran, I think they would catch on. They're dead, but they're not stupid.

The sky darkened and I bit my lip again.

"It's gonna work. I can't believe it." Glenn whispered through clenched teeth.

"Don't. Draw. Attention." Rick whispered back. One walker looked at Glenn, growling loudly. Glenn growled back, and after a while it left. My heart was pounding, as I shuffled a little closer to Rick. I was going to whisper-ask him a question before I felt a rain drop hit my head. Glenn and I glanced at each other, and his eyes were as wide as saucers.

Shit.

Thunder boomed overhead, and we did our best to not draw attention. But that all stopped when the walkers began to crowd us a bit.

"The smell's washing off. Isn't it?" Glenn began to panic. "Is it washing off?"

"No it's not." Rick told him.

"Are you sure?" I asked quietly. One walker growled at Rick before moving on.

"Well, maybe." He said. I swallowed hard. One walker roared and shuffled towards him, and Rick hit it in the head with the axe.

"Shit!" I screamed, and whipped out my gun. I pistol whipped one in the head, making it fall.

"Oh shit! Run!" Glenn screamed. The three of us sprinted towards the truck, the walker horde behind us. They were roaring loudly, which made the ones in front of us try to get us. Rick hit them with the axe, Glenn with the crowbar. I pistol whipped them, because I forgot to get a damn weapon. We then ran to the fence, threw our weapons over it, and climbed over it in maybe five seconds flat.  
My gym teacher would be so proud.

Once we were over, we yanked off the walker guts and jackets, tossing the gloves down as we ran. Rick and I took out our guns and began shooting. Glenn went and got the keys to the truck.

"Rick!" he yelled before tossing them to him. Rick caught them, and grabbed my arm as the two of us made our way over to the truck. The first walker made its way over to the fence and was coming for us, so we weren't exactly out of the red yet. Glenn and I squeezed into the passenger seat as Rick started the truck. The walker banged its hands on the window, making Glenn scream.

"Go, go, go, go, go, go!" he yelled. The tires screeched for a moment before we actually started going somewhere. After that, as we were backing up, the walkers tore the fence down and began making their way towards us.

"Shit, shit, shit." I muttered.

"They won't get us." Rick muttered as he crashed through another fence.

"Oh God. Oh God. They're all over that place!" Glenn whimpered.

"You need to draw them away. Those roll-up doors at the front of the store—that area? That's what I need cleared. Raise your friends. Tell them to get down there and be ready."

"And I'm drawing the geeks away how? I—I missed that part!"

" _Noise_."

We made our way into the other side to Atlanta, where Rick spotted a red dodge charger. He grabbed a crowbar and smashed the window open, making the alarm go off. He then opened the door, while Glenn and I stayed back (Glenn had his hands over his ears) and got in, starting the car with a screwdriver.

[ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ] [ ]

Glenn drove out first in the charger, and Rick and I were next in the truck. For a moment, Glenn went one way, and we went another, but we met up for about a second before Glenn sped off.

"Think it'll work?" I looked at Rick.

"Oh, it'll work." He nodded. We turned a corner after hearing the car alarm leave the area we needed to be. Rick then backed up to the doors and hurried to the back, opening the roll-up door to the truck. "I need you to help them get in this truck, you understand?"

"Yeah, I understand."

He nodded and hurried to the roll-up door, banging on it. It opened soon after, showing everyone there but my father. I thought about it for a moment, but didn't say anything. If he didn't come back, it wasn't much of a loss.

"We've gotta go!" Rick told them. They threw their supply bags to him, which he threw at me and I threw into the truck. After that, I helped everyone into the truck and Rick ran to the driver's seat to begin driving.

And that's when we saw the walkers come out of nowhere, growling at us.

"Shit!" I muttered. Rick began driving and Morales shut the roll-up door. And with that, we left the department store.

Everyone looked around for a moment, with the same question on their minds.

Where's Dixon.

"I dropped the damn key." T-Dog said. I nodded. You could tell he felt bad about even, even after my father beat him pretty bad.

"Where's Glenn?" Andrea asked.

"Glenn's safe. He's driving a red car." I answered her.

"At least he's safe." Andrea sighed.


	13. Grimes Family Reunion

Chapter Thirteen

"Best not to dwell on it." Morales advised. "Merle got left behind. Nobody's going to be sad he didn't come back, except maybe Daryl."

" _Maybe_ Daryl?" I looked at him. "He won't be sad, he'll be pissed."

At this, Morales simply shrugged.

"Daryl?" Rick asked.

"His brother."

I heard a car alarm approaching us, and a small smile broke out onto my face.

" _Whoo-hoo_!" Glenn drove by, fist pumping, and I couldn't help but grin. Oh, that boy. He was something else.

"At least somebody's having a good day." Morales said simply.

After a while of driving, we pulled back up to the camp and Morales hit Rick's arm in a friendly manner.

"Come meet everybody." He told him before getting out. Oh, little did you know, good sir, that he knew a good amount of people here, I thought to myself.

I opened the sliding door, hopping out as soon as I could. I popped my back as everyone got out behind me, T-Dog bumping into me by accident.

"Sorry."

"It's cool." I told him before walking towards camp. Andrea got out, a grin splitting out onto her face.

"Amy."

"Andrea!" the younger blonde woman cried, running towards her older sister. They embraced, with Amy looking like she was about to cry. "You scared the shit out of me."

Morales' family ran towards him, his children ecstatic that he was okay. Soon after, Dale walked up to him.

"You are a welcome sight." He hugged him. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."

I walked over to Glenn, nudging him. "You have fun?"

"Oh yeah." He grinned.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked.

"New guy—he got us out." Glenn explained.

"New guy?"

"Yeah, crazy vato just got into town." Morales explained. He looked back at the truck, his arm around his wife and children. "Hey, helicopter boy! Come say hello!" I grinned to myself as the truck door shut. Rick walked out, his hands on his hips. "Guy's a cop, like you and Megan."

Shane looked up, and a look of pure surprise broke out onto his face when he saw Rick. I couldn't contain my excitement, and giggled a bit. That's when Lori and Carl looked over, and Rick just had this look of relief on his face. He hurried over towards them and Carl bolted to him, Lori close behind.

"Dad! Dad!" he cried. Rick knelt down and took his son in his arms, almost looking as if he was about to cry.

"Carl..." he held him tight, as if he never wanted to let him go ever again. They fell to the ground for a moment before Rick stood, still cradling Carl, and he made his way over to Lori, who looked dumbfounded to see him. She then embraced him, looking like she was going to cry. The three held on to each other, and Shane looked as if he was a bit jealous. He cracked a smile, however, when Rick looked over at him.

After dinner, we all sat around the fire, Carl, Rick and Lori all next to each other.

"Disoriented." Rick said. "I guess that comes closest. Disoriented. Fear, confusion—all those things, but..." thunder rumbled in the background. "Disoriented comes closest."

"Words can be meager things." Dale sat his cup down. "Sometimes they fall short."

"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else. For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."

Carl looked up at him. "Mom said you died." He spoke quietly. Rick and Lori looked at each other for a moment before Rick looked back down at his son.

"She had every reason to believe that. Don't you ever doubt it."

I noticed Lori and Shane look at each other before Lori spoke.

"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened." She explained.

"Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."

Lori nodded. "Yeah."

"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun."

"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out, you know." Shane said.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane." Rick told him with gratitude in his voice. "I can't begin to express it."

"There go those words falling short again." Dale joked. "Paltry things."

I smiled softly.

Wood clattered as Ed threw another log onto the fire. Since it was so quiet, everyone looked over.

"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane asked.

"It's cold, man." Ed answered.

"Cold don't change the rules, does it?" he looked over at the bigger man. "Keep our fires low, just embers, so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once."

Shane stood and walked over towards him, and spoke to him in a quiet voice. Annoyed, and louder, Ed answered.

"Go on, pull the damn thing out." After no one moved for about a second he spoke again. "Go on!"

Carol quickly got up, the blanket falling off her shoulders as she went over to the fire. I saw Shane shake his head as she pulled the log out. He put the fire out and knelt down in front of Carol and Sophia, talking quietly. After a second he walked back over, and thunder rumbled again.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asked as Shane sat down. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog spoke. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him. That makes it mine." Rick said.

"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn, who was sitting to my right, said to them. "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

"I did what I did." T-Dog looked like he regretted what he had done, even though it wasn't his fault. He told me what had happened around dinnertime. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Amy offered.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea corrected her. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed."

"Hell, he almost got me killed." I muttered.

"Exactly." She looked at Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is _nobody's_ fault but _Merle's_."

Dale looked like he wanted to scoff but didn't. "And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?"

"No, but it had to be done. Besides, with Merle being my father and all, my uncle might just as well be just as angry with me." I shrugged.

"Why?" Glenn looked at me.

"Glenn. He's my _dad_. Most people wouldn't leave their father on a roof in a city that's overrun."

"Most people don't have Merle Dixon as a father either."

"Word to the wise—" Dale continued. "We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog said. "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared." Andrea told him. "We all ran. What's your point?"

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." I noticed Glenn look over at him. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that—not that chain, not that padlock. My point—Dixon's alive. And he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us." And with that, he left.


	14. About Merle

Chapter Fourteen

Glenn stood in front of his car, pouting, with his arms crossed. I chuckled as I walked over to him.

"It's not funny."

I nodded. "Kind of."

"No it's not. It's vandalism."

I started laughing as Rick walked over.

"Look at 'em." Glenn kept pouting. "Vultures." Morales took a tire off and I thought I saw Glenn die a little inside. "Yeah, go on, strip it clean."

"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it." Dale patted him on the back. "Sorry, Glenn."

"Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

"Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." Rick told him reassuringly and walked over to Lori.

"Yeah, maybe an awesome blue one." I smiled.

"I don't want a blue one, I want my red one." Glenn pouted more. Shane drove up in the Jeep.

"Water's here, y'all." He announced. "Just a reminder to boil before use." He hopped out as a few people, Glenn included, went to go get it out of the back the vehicle. A scream was heard from a distance.

"Dad!" Carl screamed.

Everyone started to make their way over, and I put my hand on my pistol as I hurried over behind Rick and Lori, who were in a panic.

"Carl! Carl! Baby!" Lori yelled. Carl ran to her and hugged her. "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?"

"No, I'm okay." Carl told her. I hurried past them, making the cans on the wire rattle. I hurried behind Glenn and into a clearing where there was a dead deer and a walker eating from it. As it became aware that people were around it, the walker stood, growling, and I raised my pistol to shoot it but Rick hit it with the spear he had grabbed. Shane then hit it with his shotgun, and Glenn followed suit. The men soon followed suit, each taking turns on whacking this thing, though it didn't seem to do a bit of difference. Finally, Dale cut its head off with his axe, and everyone took a step back.

"It's the first one we've had up here." He explained. "They never come this far up the mountain."

"Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." Jim said. A branch snapped and footsteps were heard. We all got our weapons ready again, until my uncle walked out of the woods.

"Oh, Jesus."

"Son of a bitch." He seemed annoyed, looking at the ground. "That's _my_ deer!" he walked over to the dead deer. It had a few arrows sticking out of it, which I hadn't noticed what with all the action. "Look at it. All gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearing, motherless poxy bastard!" he kicked the body.

"Calm down, son. That's not helping." Dale told him. My uncle made his way towards him.

"What do you know about it, old man?" he got into his face. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"?" he walked back to the deer, sighing. "I've been tracking this deer for miles." He yanked his arrows out. "Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison. What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed up part right here?" he motioned to the large neck wound.

"I would not risk that." Shane advised. Daryl sighed.

"That's a damn shame. I got some squirrel—about a dozen or so." He motioned to the rope on his shoulder. "That'll have to do."

The head of the walker moved its mouth and I stared at it.

"Oh, God." I heard Amy behind me. My uncle pointed his crossbow at it.

"Come on, people. What the hell?" he shot it in the eye, and retrieved the arrow soon afterward. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothing?" he walked past us and into camp. "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here!"

"Uh oh, shit's about to hit the fan," Glenn whispered to me as we followed him.

"I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up!"

"Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane said.

"About what?"

"About Merle. There was a, uh... There was a problem in Atlanta."

I started towards my uncle but then decided to hang back.

"He dead?"

"We're not sure."

"He either is or he ain't!" my uncle yelled. Rick made his way up to him.

"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it."

"Who're you?" Daryl began to get an attitude.

"Rick Grimes."

"Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?"

"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there."

In the back I noticed T-Dog coming up with some firewood in his arms. He stopped walking once he saw Daryl. I thought he was going to shit himself, honestly. Daryl turned away from Rick.

"Hold on, let me process this." he began to raise his voice. "You're saying you handcuffed my brother _to a roof_ _and you left him there_?!"

"Yeah." Rick looked away. Daryl threw the squirrels and looked as if he was going to attack Rick, but Shane tackled him to the ground. T-Dog dropped the logs and hurried over to help, but stopped after a few seconds. My uncle yanked his knife out of its sheath and stood, swiping at Rick, who took a few steps back. Shane jumped onto Daryl's back, pinning his arm behind him.

"You'd best let me go!"

"Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane said simply, putting him into a choke hold and dragging him to the ground. I put my hand over my mouth, not wanting to watch but not wanting to look away at the same time.

"Choke hold's illegal." Daryl grunted.

"You can file a complaint. Come on, man." Shane said as my uncle struggled against him. "We'll keep this up all day."

Rick knelt down, and I started to walk over. Glenn took my arm and quickly shook his head no. I shrugged in response and kept walking, kneeling down next to Rick.

"I'd like to have a _calm discussion_ on this topic." He said. "Do you think we can manage that?" After a second, he repeated himself. "Do you think we can manage that?"

"Hmm?" Shane asked Daryl, who was still mute.

"Come on, man, yes or no?" I crossed my arms.

"Yeah." Daryl broke free of Shane's grasp, and the three of us stood. Rick knelt back down when he saw my uncle wasn't getting up.

"What I did was not on a whim." He told him. "Your brother does not work or play well with others."

I tried not to laugh. "Isn't that the understatement of the century?" I rolled my eyes. Before anyone could retort, T-Dog spoke.

"It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it."

"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl snapped at him.

"Well, I dropped it in a drain."

My uncle stood, walking over to him. "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't."

"Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him with a padlock."

"It's gotta count for something." Rick said. My uncle wiped his eyes.

"Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is." His voice cracked. "So's I can go get him."

"He'll show you." Lori spoke up, looking at Rick. "Isn't that right?"

After a moment's consideration, Rick nodded. "I'm going back."

Daryl walked off, and I heard Rick sigh quietly.


	15. Back to Atlanta

Chapter Fifteen

After a little while, Rick walked out of his tent in his cop uniform, buttoning up his shirt. I overheard him and Shane talking as I stood next to Daryl, polishing my gun.

"So that's it, huh?" Shane asked. "You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?"

"I'm not saying to hell with anybody—not you, Shane; Lori least of all." Rick started to leave Shane's side.

"Tell her that." Shane snapped. Rick turned and looked at him.

"She knows." He started to leave again. Shane followed him.

"Well, look I—I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just—could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me _why_? Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"

"Hey." My uncle snapped. "Choose your words more carefully."

"No, I did. Douche bag's what I meant." Shane snapped back. I tried to hide my smile. "Merle Dixon," he muttered. "The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst."

"What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me." Rick said. " _I_ can't let a man die of thirst— _me_. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being." He began to walk off.

"So, you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori asked.

"Megan's going too, aren't you Megan?" Rick looked at me.

"I am?" I raised my eyebrows.

"You better be. He's your father." Daryl snapped at me.

" _Sperm donor_ , thank you very much." I corrected him.

"I don't care what you think, that man still gave you life."

I rolled my eyes.

"Okay, so just you, Daryl and Megan?" Lori asked skeptically. At this, Rick looked over at Glenn, who looked like he'd rather die than go.

"Oh, _come on_." He groaned.

"You know the way. You've been there before—in and out, no problem. You said so yourself." Glenn took his cap off and flattened his hair as Rick spoke. "It's not fair of me to ask, I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." Rick motioned to Lori.

"That's just great. Now you're going to risk four men, huh?" Shane griped.

"Woman." I corrected him.

"You know what I meant, Dixon." At this, I narrowed my eyes.

"Five." T-Dog spoke up. My uncle huffed.

"My day just gets better and better, don't it?" he asked, rhetorically, cleaning his arrows off.

"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog snapped.

"Why you?"

"You don't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

"That's five." Dale spoke.

Shane shook his head a bit. "It's not just five." He said. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was _here_. It was _in camp_. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to _protect camp_."

"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." Rick argued.

"Right, the guns." Glenn agreed.

"Wait, what guns?" Shane asked.

"Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

"Ammo?"

"700 rounds, assorted."

"Oh, hell yeah." I muttered.

"You went through hell to find us." Lori said. "You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?"

"Dad, I don't want you to go." Carl, who was sitting next to his mother, added.

"To hell with the guns, Shane is right. _Merle Dixon_? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." at this statement, Rick began to leave. Lori stood. "Tell me. Make me understand."

Rick walked over to her. "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy." At this, Lori began to look royally pissed off. "Lori, if they hadn't taken me in, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn him."

"What's stopping you?"

"The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer."

"These are our walkies?" Shane asked.

"Yeah..."

"So use the CB. What's wrong with that?" Andrea asked.

"The CB's fine, it's the walkies that suck to crap—date back to the '70s, don't match any other bandwidth—not even the scanners in our cars."

Rick looked at Lori again. "I need that bag." He left her side and knelt down in front of his son. "Okay?" At this, Carl nodded his head slightly.

"Well," I sighed. "Let's get going. Don't got all day."

[] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] [] []

"Rumor is you have bolt cutters." Rick, T-Dog and I walked over to Dale and Jim, who were hanging out by Dale's RV.

"Maybe." Dale said.

"Yeah, we get to that roof, we'll need to cut that chain and the handcuffs." T-Dog explained.

"Since, you know, the key's a no-go." I added.

"I never like lending tools. The last time I did—" he looked over at T-Dog, pointing his finger at him, "—and yes, I am talking about you—let's just say your bag of guns was the only bag that was dropped. My tools got left behind with Merle."

"We'll bring your tools back, too. Think of the bolt cutters as an investment." Rick promised.

"Oh, great." I muttered.

"Sounds like more of a gamble." Dale seemed rather annoyed with the idea, but went over to the toolbox and took the bolt cutters out anyway. T-Dog reached for them, but Dale didn't hand them over just yet. "What do I get in return?"

"What do you want?" Rick asked.

"How about one of those guns you bring back? My pick."

"Done."

Jim cleared his throat. "Dale, let's uh... Sweeten the deal a bit."

"Seriously? We gotta go." I snapped.

"Hold your horses, Megan. Now, that cube van of yours—"

"What about it?" Rick sighed a bit.

"The RV's radiator hose is shot. That's a problem if we need to get somewhere and wanna get very far. And the hose on that van is just about a perfect match—well, enough that I can make it fit."

"Tell you what, when we get back you can strip that van down to the bare metal." He promised. Before anyone else could say anything, Daryl began honking the horn, agitated.

"Come on, let's go!" he yelled. Rick took the bolt cutters from Dale.

"Thank you." He said, making his way over to the truck with T-Dog and I right behind. Shane followed us.

"Hey, Rick, got any rounds in the Python?" he asked, setting the bag down on the steps of the van. I hopped onto the back, my feet dangling.

"No."

"Last time we were out at the gun range, I'm sure I wound up with a few loose rounds of yours."

Rick got a small smile on his face. "You and that bag—like the bottom of an old lady's purse."

"Just worse." I piped in. Rick laughed quietly. Shane, who wasn't smiling at all, looked at us.

"I hate that you're doing this, man." He said. "I think that it's foolish and reckless. But if you're gonna go, you're taking bullets."

"I'm not sure I'd wanna fire a shot in the city, not after what happened last time." Rick told him.

"It's swarmed, Shane. It seemed like the only people that were actually alive was us. That's it. Shooting a gun in Atlanta is like ringing the dinner bell." I said.

"That's up to you." Shane took the few rounds he had out of his bag. "Well... five men, five rounds. What are the odds, huh?" The three of us sat there in silence for a moment. "Well, let's just hope that—let's just hope that five's your lucky number, okay?" he gave Rick the rounds.

"Thank you." Rick said.

"All right."

And with that, we got into the van. Glenn started the truck, and we drove off.


End file.
